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Constitutional interpretation critique essay
American constitution ambiguity
Interpreting the constitution strictly
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"Loose construction is a belief that the constitution is a dynamic living document that must change as the nation develops" Loose construction in general words is loose interpretation of the constitution by judges and the jury but in most cases the judge because he has the final word in what happens in a case. The constitution was made by our founding father in 1787 the constitution is made up of rules and laws to keep order and justice and for the protection of the people. It also implies the natural rights or a person in court and out of court. It has been decades since the u.s constitution was written and ratified but yet we are still following what it says. There are some parts of the constitution that are morally correct but also there are some parts that just don't follow modern times. Loose construction first began its origins in the early 1790’s with one of the early loose constructionist Alexander Hamilton who was also a federalist and Thomas Jefferson who was anti-federalist and a held views on strict constructionism. President Washington secretary of state Alexander Hamilton, he designed a bank of the United States, this bank would be powerful and the main stockholder would be the U.S government. The federal treasury would deposit excess monies, it would revive business expenditures and it would print paper money so it could obtain a needed strong national currency. Thomas Jefferson was not fond of this new plan that Hamilton had created, he thought there was no authorization within the constitution. Jefferson was Hueramo 2 sure that the laws not given to the central powers were given to the states as proclaimed by the tenth amendment. This is why Jefferson thought that the powers not given to the central government... ... middle of paper ... ... well and has set the bar for other court cases to come. Due process is the rights we have in court and as these two cases explain peremptory challenge is a right we have as a defendant. due process has helped people who are being convicted be tried fairly in the court system and with peremptory challenge they have the right to have a fair juror which makes the defendant more secure while in trial. In Hernandez v. Texas Pete Hernandez an agricultural worker, was charged for the murder of Joe Espinoza by an all white jury in Jackson County, Texas. In this case Pete said that it wasn't fair that Mexican - Americans were excluded from participating in the jury. Pete hernandez had his right to have peremptory challenge which acted upon. Due process is a process that continue to be ratified because it doesn't follow the same rules as it did when it was first created.
In other words, the states will have all the powers that are not appointed to the national government, by the Articles of Confederation. According to Article 9, “The national congress will have the power to declare war, negotiate foreign treaties, settle disputes between states, regulate currency, direct the operations of land and naval forces, borrow money from the states.” (Williamsburg, 2009) An elaboration of this is that, the national government is limited to the powers, that are stated above, and has no control of anything else. Since the national government had little to no control over any of the states, laws that were past inside of these states became unjust and faced little repercussions from the national government, because of the limitations that were put into place by the articles of confederation.
The constitution guarded against tyranny using federalism. [Federalism is the system where the states and central government share power.] [Document A was written by James
There wasn’t any judicial branch, but Congress had the authority to arbitrate disputes between states. Congress was responsible for conducting foreign affairs, declaring war or peace, maintaining an army and navy and a variety of other lesser functions. But the articles denied Congress the power to collect taxes, regulate interstate commerce and enforce laws. Because of this, the central government had to request donations from the states to finance its operations and raise armed forces. The states attempted to limit the power of the national government because they feared that it would become a monarchy.
Under the Articles of Confederation each state had its own sovereignty. And the central government was to provide thing such as national security, treaties, courts, and currency. However the government could not tax. If the states didn't pay their bills to the government there was nothing the government could do about it. This is just one of many reasons why the Articles didn't work. In 1786 Virginia tried to get the Articles modified by holding a meeting known as the Annapolis Conference. This meeting failed because only five states sent delegates. A few months later another meeting was held in Philadelphia.
Through the years many changes have taken place, and technologies have been discovered, yet our Constitution remains. Some say that the Constitution was written for people hundreds of years ago, and in turn is out of step with the times. Yet its principals and guidelines have held thus far. The framers would be pleases that their great planning and thought have been implemented up until this point. However this does not compensate for the fact, that the we the people have empowered the government more so than our fore fathers had intended. Citizens were entrusted with the duty to oversee the government, yet so many times they are disinterested and only seem to have an opinion when the government’s implications affect them. As time has changed so has the American people, we often interpret our freedoms in a self serving manner, disregarding the good of the whole and also the good for the future. Thus there are no true flaws in the Constitution, it appears that the conflict emerges in the individual and their self, and poses question when we must decide when to compromise the morals that our Constitution was founded on, or when to stick to what we know is right and honest.
The Supreme Court exercised its interpretation of the Constitution and found that a violation of the First Amendment was apparent and therefore, also a violation of the fourteenth Amendment showing that due process of the law was not given.
One of the benefits of due process is demonstrated in the Belshaw case. The inquisitorial system of justice is based on crime control; the Swiss police had a hard time in Canada with Mr. Belshaw, because of his right to due process, under Canadian law. Both systems of justice share common beliefs, for example, they both look for proof beyond a reasonable doubt. In Canada we fight about facts and laws, where-as the inquisitorial system searches for the facts. The adversarial system has a separation of powers with the police, crown, defense, and the judge. It is quite different for the inquisitorial system of justice, the police do the arrest, then they present the facts to crown, which then decide if they have a case and turn over the evidence to the judge. The only problem is that the judge decides what will lead them to the truth. How any evidence was collected is irrelevant. In due process if the police obtain evidence and violate the law or a persons charter of rights and freedoms the judge will exclude the evidence from the hearing, even if it would help or prove that the person is guilty. These two systems of justice are generated in democratic traditions.
The articles of confederation were adopted by the continental congress on December 15, 1777. It created a weak central government leaving most of the power to the states. Even though this was what the anti-federalist wanted they knew they needed a change in government. The articles of confederation states in section two that “Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.” This is where the tenth amendment derived from with certain modifications. Both the tenth amendment and the articles of confederation state that the powers not listed are reserved for the states. The reason why the tenth amendment was included was because of the fight that the anti-federalist put up. They demanded state and individual rights so James Madison drafted up the bill of
Before the adoption of the United States Constitution, the U.S. was governed by the Articles of Confederation. These articles stated that almost every function of the government was chartered by the legislature known as Congress. There was no distinction between legislative or executive powers. This was a major shortcoming in how the United States was governed as many leaders became dissatisfied with how the government was structured by the Articles of Confederation. They felt that the government was too weak to effectively deal with the upcoming challenges. In 1787, an agreement was made by delegates at the Constitutional Convention that a national judiciary needed to be established. This agreement became known as The Constitution of the United States, which explicitly granted certain powers to each of the three branches of the federal government, while reserving other powers exclusively to the states or to the people as individuals. It is, in its own words, “the supreme Law of the Land” (Shmoop Editorial Team).
The Constitution that was created had a strong central government and weaker state governments. Under the Constitution, Congress was given the power to levy taxes, regulate trade between the states, raise an army, control interstate commerce, and more. A three-branch government was established in which a judicial branch handled disputes in a federal court system, a President headed an executive branch, and a legislative branch. Conversely, the anti-federalists believed in weak central and strong state governments, as the way it was in The Articles of Confederation and believed in strict adherence to the writings of the constitution.
Due process is a clause present in the Fifth Amendment of the Bill of Rights and is reiterated in Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The fact that it is mentioned twice in the Constitution speaks to its importance. Due process upholds the standard that guilt must be proven and not merely assumed. Overtime most libertie...
constitutions of most of our states assert, that all power is inherent in the people; that they
...t that, invariably in the three decisions that gave states more rights, a need to curb national government supremacy was a more important factor than the Tenth Amendment. Indeed, the dual federalist approach was not the major factor either because the three aforementioned cases were all decided more as a response to the expansion of national supremacy than a desire to exert states rights. The Supreme Court has not always been capable of following the correct interpretation of the Constitution because of the effects of prior cases and political influences. In order to do so in the future, the Supreme Court need only remember that the constitution was meant to-- enhance national government power, the national government is supreme when its laws are made in the pursuance of the Constitution, and the Tenth Amendment gives the states a passive and not aggressive power.
Due process is a right afforded us in the United States Constitution. It is mentioned in both the 5th and 14th amendments (Cornell University Law School, 2014). Due process is as relevant today as it was the day it was written as it “assumes that freedom is so important that every effort must be made to ensure that criminal justice decisions stem from reliable information (Cole & Smith, 2007, p. 11)”. The due process clause contained in our constitution is meant to afford all our citizens legal equality. Guilty until proven innocent is a widely known statement and it because of due process that this right is afforded us. This means that an accusation of criminal deviance must be proven beyond all reasonable doubt. Certain presumtions may be made and accepted as fact should no evidence to the contrary be presented; however, a jury of our peers (or a Judge should a jury trial be waived) must decide our fate based on the facts as they understand them and not on supposition. Due process also provides the expectation that all procedures of law will be followed to safeguard legality. Due process is the only statement contained in more than one amendment; thereby, acknowledging a specific intention. (Cornell University Law School, 2014). Due process protects us from any single state having the right to deny us life, liberty, or property without first following the proper legal channels.
Those who feared that the federal government would become too strong were assured by Madison in Federalist No. 14 that “in the first place it is to be remembered that the general government is not to be charged with the whole power of making and administrating laws…The subordinate governments, which can extend their care to all those other objects which can be separately provided for, will retain their due authority and activity”